A Study of the Christian Pilgr

A French folklorist and ethnographer, Arnold Van Gennep (1908-1960) gave us the first clues about how ancient and tribal societies conceptualized and symbolized the transitions men have to make between states a statuses . He demonstrated that all rites of passage are marked by three phases: separation, limen or margin, and aggregation. By identifying liminality Van Gennep discovered a major innovative, transformative dimension of the social. He is credited for paving the way for future studies of all processes of spatiotemporal social or individual change. Various researchers have studied the study focus of this paper, the pilgrimage, yet Van Gennep led us to recognizing the significance in such cultural, religious behavior. The two religious pilgrimages to be discussed in this paper are both the Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Although these religions differ, they are none the less the two largest religions in the world and both take part in pilgrimages which demonstrate how close the two religions may be in their general beliefs and actions. Moreover, the pilgrimage ultimately serves as a c

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The final part of the pilgrimage symbolizes self-denial and invokes Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son on God’s command. A sheep or other animal is ritually slaughtered, expressing the believer’s righteousness, in hopes that it will reach Allah.

The Muslim pilgrimage is concentrated in Mecca, which lies on a strip of land along the last coast of the Red Sea that the Koran calls the ‘unfruitful’ valley. Furthermore, liminality is proven through the initial separation form their homelands, then the transition and finally aggregation.

The real problem arises when pilgrimage is paradoxically related to the structure, humanly, material world in which the pilgrims are trying to escape. Therefore, the pilgrimage has attributes of liminality in passage rites: release from mundane structure; homogenization of status; simplicity of dress or behavior; communitas; ordeal and reflection on religious and cultural values. The house the Koran referred to here is the Ka’ba, which is the house of Allah. On arrival, pilgrims are given guides who ensure that the rituals are carried out properly (however, the ritual washing and cutting can be done before the plane ride in modern times). However, he too was overwhelmed by the strong sense of solidarity and was forced to perceive the journey as something different. Moreover, it is said that Allah chose the Arabian peninsula as the location of the origin of the world and to have created the rest of the earth in a series of concentric circles leading away from what became, literally ‘the navel of the earth’ . There is an equality created on the pilgrimage, where class or social status is erased. The pilgrimage does indeed serve as a function, it forms a community, a collective consciousness and a foundation for morality and belief. Gregory of Nyssa (the brother of St.

Common topics in this essay:
Doctrines Wahhabis, Holy Land, Arafat Muhammad, Jerusalem Easter, Wood Cross, Christian Muslim, God Christianity, Islam Mecca, Islam Malcolm, City Mecca, holy land, christian pilgrimage, pilgrimage mecca, pilgrimage holy, pilgrimage holy land, holy land muslim, land muslim, christian pilgrims, muslim pilgrims, sense solidarity, little flasks, house allah, christian pilgrimage holy, strong sense solidarity, ritual washing cutting,

Approximate Word count = 4256
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)

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